Dubia roach problems

[Gymped]

I have been breeding dubias for about 5 years now and until this year I have never had this problem some of my freshest holdback colonies have refused to produce and have been dropping all egg sacs since the bins were established on 3/15 and 4/12. the temperature is at tops 93. My colonies im refering to are at my residence in georgia so with the humidity there ive never had a problem. Same hen mash with dog food mix ive used to for years and other than the occasional gnats never any outsourced stressors. Anyone have any advice as experienced as I am knowledge is power in this case and I am open to all suggestions. any and all help is greatly appreciate and if anyone is willing to take the time to help me and help me rectify this problem fully I will supply with free feeders for your troubles.

Thank You All in Advance,
Branden

 

[Galapoheros]

Wow what do you do with so many of them? I raise them on a little coco fiber, even only 1/4". I don't clean out the containers. I throw oak leaves in, small twigs with lichen on them, orange slices, fish flakes, organic dog food, some greens now and then. They could be missing something in their diet, have you tried oranges? It picks up over when I put in an orange slice or two. I don't keep them like most other people do. I've gone years without cleaning, all turns to dirt. I turn them over to a pet store here when I get too many. I like the yard btw, and the back porch.

 

[Gymped]

thanks for the yard compliment I have 55 different pepper species including all of the worlds top 10 hottest so if you ever want a seeds let me know. I think the egg sacs are getting damaged when attached to the females somehow I saw alot with damaged egg sacs still attached what can cause this?

---------- Post added 05-07-2014 at 07:43 PM ----------

I use layena hen mash for my breeders usually is that not enough protein? I only gut load what I sell or feed off myself

 

[klawfran3]

hmm... they drop the egg cases when something is stressing them out. have you tried reducing light to them? are there any vibrations you haven't noticed?

I would add a dish full of just water in there. I keep straight up water in my colony with no crystals, and none have ever drowned. it will bump up the humidity too, which helps keep the roaches happy, as they like humidity a bit higher.

 

[Gymped]

some of the egg sacs look deformed or crusty that is due to lack of humidity I presume? the ambient humidity outside is outrageous this time of year im suprised it would be that but got to eliminate all options

 

[klawfran3]

some of the egg sacs look deformed or crusty that is due to lack of humidity I presume? the ambient humidity outside is outrageous this time of year im suprised it would be that but got to eliminate all options

that's the humidity OUTSIDE. what's the humidity INSIDE?

 

[Gymped]

I dont use a humidity detector but I mean I have water drops all on the lid etc on most bins maybe since they are fresh and I have stacked ones on top to trap in humidity with the air holes covered. See I made these 5 new adult bins over the last 2 months and I usually just throw em right on top of each other but I seperated em maybe it was for the worst. Im going to take a tuperware fill it with water and put screen over it so no adults can fall in so I can max out the humidity

 

[Smokehound714]

if you place a water reservoir in there, you can get some condensation going. just make sure they wont drown.

 

[Gymped]

added tupperware reservoir adding humidity but still have egg sacs dropped, not sure if its humidity and as for the light every colony ive ever had has been raised in those bins so I dont know if that can be attributed to the problem.

 

[skippydude]

I live in a low humidity climate and none of my eggs look like that

When was the last time you added stock from some one else's colony to improve your gene pool? Could this be from inbreeding?

 

[catfishrod69]

What about the temps. Have you tried lowering them? I keep my colony at 80, and they produce very well. Never see any dropped oothecae.

 

[klawfran3]

I live in a low humidity climate and none of my eggs look like that

When was the last time you added stock from some one else's colony to improve your gene pool? Could this be from inbreeding?

That's actually a really good idea. I know you have to do it every two years or so, or else problems could start in the colony. Op when was the last time a fresh stock was added to your tanks?

 

[Gymped]

My colony is so large that the levels of inbreeding would be so far removed in lineage lines that it wouldnt affect them on that large of a level especially with insects. The temps inside are about 90-95. Also if it was genetic I doubt that every single female would be afflicted in this manner the 4 bins im referring 2 have not produced since reaching adulthood so the odds of over 4000 females all dropping eggsacs from inbreeding is astronomical.

 

[catfishrod69]

You could always try dropping your temps down to about 80. Couldnt hurt. Being too cold they wont produce, and im sure being too hot would make it even worse.

 

[burmish101]

My vote is for dropping the temp as well. If you think about it even if they're from a hot climate, under that log they hide under in the wild it probably only gets up to 60-70F anyway.

 

[khil]

I too suggest trying to drop the temperature to maybe 85 then even 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
One more thing I want to add: It seems your colonies are exposed to light most of the from what I see in the picture. Try moving at least one colony to a darker place and see how they do.

Another possible problem might of course be humidity or ventilation, you can try experimenting to see if changing these on one group helps them.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Gymped]

Rubbermaid 54 Gallon Roughneck Hi-Top Tote purchased today, doing gnoseeum proof screening over whole top the relative humidity outside will be enough I want the ventilation. The tubs are dark. The only thing that confuses me is that I had 24 106 Qt tubs full of adults which are clear and Ive used them for 4 years without a problem im just wondering what could have caused it at this point but im willing to troubleshoot 110%. I still will be using reservoir, I am going back to my old food mix from 2012 even though my current food for breeders has had no problem until now. I do have some gnats but every year around this time ive had this problem without egg sacs dropping.

 

[Gymped]

They are in the new tubs for about 3-4 days now with temps dropped alot more airflow proper humidity and balanced diet and still dropping egg sacs before this batch of adults I have never had this happen I cant pinpoint and problem there are no mites no mold

 

[nepenthes]

Have you attempted lowering the temps like recommended?

 

[cmcghee358]

Are you sure the gnats aren't phorid flies?